Chapter 138: Each One's Abacus

Tezuka continued, "As for Doubles No. 2, Oishi and Kikumaru will take the court."

"Do not feel too much pressure; just perform at your best and leave no regrets."

Oishi nodded earnestly.

Ryuzaki said, "Oishi, do not mythologize Rikkai's doubles and look down on yourselves."

"The Synchronization state you and Kikumaru touched upon during the semifinals is the ultimate divine skill that professional players call a doubles miracle."

"If you can master this move, then even if you face Rikkai's doubles in the match, you will have a high probability of winning."

"Doubles players who enter the Synchronization state have deep trust in their partners, so they can not only judge each other's actions based on their partner's subtle movements and reflexes, but also achieve the most perfect complementarity during the doubles process."

"Due to their extremely high level of tacit understanding, they can achieve the most perfect returns without any signals or gestures, and the power and speed of their return shots can break through their own limits."

"Moreover, the movement trajectories and the goals of the actions of two people in the Synchronization state cannot be seen through by their opponents, so Synchronization far surpasses ordinary doubles formations."

"If you practice this move to perfection, your match will surely be a victory."

Oishi said excitedly, "Coach, I understand. Kikumaru and I will definitely practice this move diligently."

Tezuka thought for a moment, then continued by picking up his pen and writing Echizen Ryoma's name next to Singles No. 2.

Ryuzaki said, "Putting Ryoma in the Singles No. 2 position? That's unnecessary! Ryoma should be placed in the Singles No. 1 position."

But Ryuzaki had a second thought: Tezuka playing in the Singles No. 3 position would surely secure a victory.

With Oishi and Kikumaru appearing as Doubles No. 2, if they could use Synchronization, then victory would be in sight!

Having Ryoma appear in Singles No. 2, with Ryoma's current strength, it would not be difficult to secure a victory.

Using one's own strongest player to compete against the opponent's weakest is indeed a good method.

Aside from strength, when it comes to the ability to arrange the lineup, Tezuka is also a top-tier expert.

Tezuka Kunimitsu is truly worthy of being the Captain valued by her, Ryuzaki!

Currently, there are two people in the Seigaku team who have opened the door to the deepest part of the Selfless State—the Peerless Perfection.

With such powerful combat strength, why drag the match to the fifth game to decide the winner?

Win with just three matches and return the humiliation Rikkai gave Seigaku at the Kanto Tournament back to them in full.

An eye for an eye, what a great idea!

Ryuzaki's tone softened as she said, "Tezuka, you are the Captain of Seigaku; in the end, you should be the one to decide the lineup."

Tezuka replied, "Understood!"

He then picked up his pen again and wrote Inui Sadaharu and Kaidoh Kaoru after the Doubles No. 1 position, and wrote Fuji Shusuke after the Singles No. 1 position.

Looking at this completed list, a trace of unease flashed through Tezuka's heart, because Rikkai had too many strong players; even with himself and Echizen, it would be very difficult to win three matches.

He had also considered placing himself in the Singles No. 1 position, but he was very worried that if he did not play early, he might not have the chance to play at all.

Rikkai's overall strength was so powerful that if they followed the general lineup arrangement—weakest against weakest, strongest against strongest—then Seigaku would very likely lose three matches directly.

Therefore, what he could do as the Captain of Seigaku was to bring out their strongest combat power and place the strongest players in the initial matches.

This current list was the optimal solution he could think of; no matter how the opponent arranged their players, this list could bring out Seigaku's strongest combat power, meeting all changes with consistency!

The next day.

Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School tennis office.

Takahashi sat on a chair, and on the desk in front of him lay the lineup for the finals.

The name Sanada Genichiro appeared prominently in the Singles No. 3 position.

Takahashi stared intently at this name and began to ponder.

He remembered that in the original work, the first match of the National Tournament finals between Seigaku and Rikkai was Sanada versus Tezuka in Singles No. 3.

The outcome was that Sanada won.

But this world had already changed; Tezuka had been recruited by Germany U17 in advance.

As the nine-time consecutive champion of the world tournament, the strength of the Germany Team was self-evident.

After a month of training with the Germany Team, Tezuka's strength had likely increased rapidly as well.

Takahashi recalled the match he watched between Tezuka and Kite Eishiro, and he had an intuition that Tezuka might not have even displayed half of his strength yet.

Then, could Sanada still win this match?

After thinking for a while, Takahashi picked up the pen in his hand, crossed out Sanada's name, and filled in his own name.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"

The phone placed to the side began to vibrate.

Kurobe's name appeared on the phone screen.

As the tactical coach for the U17, Kurobe was extremely busy; why would he call him at this time?

While puzzled, Takahashi pressed the answer button.

Evening.

Takahashi found Yukimura, who was practicing against a wall, in a corner of the court.

"Yukimura, it's so late and you're still practicing; you must take care of your health!"

As he spoke, Takahashi handed a bottle of mineral water to Yukimura.

Yukimura took the water and said, "Thank you!"

"Captain, is there something you need from me so late?"

Takahashi said, "Yukimura, our opponent in the finals is Seigaku, and I plan to have you play in Singles No. 2."

Yukimura said, "Fine, you are the Captain; I will follow your decision."

Before the Kanto Tournament, Yukimura was hospitalized due to illness, and all matters of the Tennis Club were left to Takahashi and Sanada to manage.

Originally, Yukimura was still a bit worried, because although Takahashi had great strength, his age was a factor, and he might lack experience in overall management; after all, there was a two-year gap between him and the third-year Yukimura.

At the same time, because Rikkai did not have a Coach position, the responsibility on the Captain was even heavier.

However, it was unexpected that whether it was the past Kanto Tournament or the ongoing National Tournament, Takahashi displayed his extraordinary leadership ability and talent for deploying troops and assigning generals.

He maximized his side's advantages and secured victory in every match with ease and poise.

And they were all three-match eliminations of the opponents, with the scoreline always being 6-0!

Such excellent results made even Yukimura feel somewhat inferior.

Especially when Yukimura thought about the match in the Kanto Tournament Finals where Takahashi played against Echizen Ryoma, if it had been himself on the court.

The result of that match would have been hard to say.

Ever since Yukimura developed the move Metsu Gokan, apart from being backlashed by the opponent during his match with Takahashi, he had never encountered anyone capable of breaking free from Metsu Gokan.

Even Takahashi at that time had only just fallen into Metsu Gokan, and after merely being deprived of his sense of touch, he relied on his own powerful Spirit Power and willpower to reflect Metsu Gokan back onto Yukimura.

And as Yukimura recalled the recording of Takahashi and Echizen, Echizen had clearly already been deprived of his sense of touch, sight, and hearing, and had completely fallen into the abyss of Metsu Gokan, yet he actually managed to break free by relying on the limits of Peerless Perfection.